Before one enters Por Que No, take note that the name means “Why Not?” in Spanish. Why should you care? Well, because it will help you to keep an open mind for what you’re about to experience in this tapas restaurant cum bar.

As mentioned before, Por Que No is a Spanish tapas restaurant that takes its craft seriously to make sure all food served in this establishment stick closely to its authentic taste as much as possible. In short, it has no interest in pleasing the tongues of Indonesians. But, fret not; Por Que No is anything but stick in the mud. First timers to this restaurant are very unlikely to sniff out the surprise in stored for them.

The tapas here are served in unusual ways. To wit, olives are placed on branch to appear as olive tree; Squids are wrapped in fish net like fresh catch; Salmorejo (Andalucian tomato dip with crumbles of Serrano ham, apples and eggs) comes in an old school steel lunch box; Last but not least, salad is stuffed in a jar to be shaken with your preferred dressing.

It is the kind of meal that requires one to be an active participant, which makes the dining a fun and interactive experience, instead of just waiting to be served. Luckily, hearty options like paella is also available for the big eaters.

Still, the quirkiness of Por Que No doesn’t end there. The interior is swathed in colourful details: bright plushy cushions are placed randomly on equally colourful wooden chairs and on one side of the wall, hundreds of colour pencils are glued together to form a giant melting goo. It’s like stumbling into the residence of a delightfully weird couple where the meal is filled with surprise and there is always a detail waiting to be noticed.

That’s not all; the establishment’s al fresco area will definitely have patrons raving. Thanks to its location on top of a five storey building in Menteng, one could also say Por Que No is half rooftop bar as well.

As such, it won’t take much effort to convince your peers to pay this establishment a visit. Not when one could relish in fun interactive meal, down a couple of powerful house cocktails and gaze at the skyscrapers of Jakarta while enjoying warm summer breeze breathing down your neck.